Under The Angsana Tree: Biden sworn in as 46th US President

Calls for unity to tackle challenges

Mr Joe Biden smiles as he delivers a speech after being sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on Jan 20, 2021. PHOTO: AFP

Sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on Wednesday (Jan 20), Mr Joe Biden encouraged a nation riven by unprecedented post-election turmoil and deep social and political divides to embrace unity.

Former senator Kamala Harris was sworn in as Vice-President, making history as the first woman, first African American and first Asian American to assume the nation’s second-highest office.

“This is America’s day. This is democracy’s day. A day of history and hope, of renewal and resolve,” said Mr Biden in his inaugural address, two weeks after a mob attacked the Capitol in an effort to overturn his victory. “At this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.”

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Biden inauguration: New president sworn in amid Trump snub

President Biden introducing members of his climate and energy team

Joe Biden has been sworn in as the 46th US president, ending one of the most dramatic political transitions in American history. "Democracy has prevailed," he said after taking the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts.

Donald Trump - who has not formally conceded the presidency to Mr Biden - snubbed the inauguration ceremony, in a departure from longstanding precedent.

The new president swiftly signed a raft of measures reversing Trump policies. Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice-president ahead of Mr Biden. She is the first woman - and the first black and Asian-American person - to serve in the role, a heartbeat from the presidency.

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Joe Biden is now president, but Trump has changed the US for a generation

Joe Biden is sworn in as 46th president of the United States Photograph: Andrew Harnik/AP

Donald Trump departed today from the American presidency as he arrived four years ago: vain, cruel and telling lies, without any vestige of grace or magnanimity.

There was no acknowledgment of, still less apology for, his deranged delinquency in the face of Covid, or of his election defeat – failures that made the nervy, locked-down inauguration of Joe Biden inevitable. But Trump leaves having changed America.

Biden did his best today. He had been absolutely the right candidate to defeat Trump at the polls. He calmly outsmarted the incumbent through the campaign; his appointments have been good; and there is no one in American politics better placed to begin the healing of wounds that ran through everything he said at the inauguration.

related: The Guardian view on Joe Biden's inauguration - democracy prevails for now

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Joe Biden marks start of presidency with flurry of executive orders

Joe Biden prepares to sign executive orders in the Oval Office on 20 January. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Joe Biden has marked the start of his presidency by signing a flurry of executive orders on a suite of issues, including Covid-19, the environment, immigration and ethics.

Some of the executive actions undo significant actions from Donald Trump’s administration, including halting the travel ban from Muslim-majority countries, and ending the declaration of a national emergency used to justify funding construction of a wall on the US-Mexico border.

He also signed an order allowing the United States to rejoin the Paris climate agreement and end the Trump administration’s efforts to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census data used to determine how many seats in Congress each state gets.

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Trump departs White House for last time, addresses supporters

Mr Trump ended his tumultuous four-year presidency with a departure ceremony at Joint Base Andrews before he departed for Florida. PHOTO: NYTIMES

Outgoing president Donald Trump departed the White House on Wednesday (Jan 20) morning for the last time as the commander in chief after four tumultuous years that shook the nation, choosing to leave town rather than face the reality that he lost reelection to President-elect Joe Biden.

The Marine One helicopter took off from the South Lawn of the White House at about 8.18am for the short flight to Joint Base Andrews in suburban Maryland, where the president held a farewell event with administration veterans and other supporters.

After that, he and his wife Melania Trump were to board Air Force One for the journey to Florida, where they will reside.

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The good, the bad and the Trump

President Donald Trump's aides applaud as he announces the Israel-UAE normalization deal from the White House, Aug. 13, 2020 (Photo: Reuters)

Despite what Trump would have us believe with his many, many tweets, life is not so cut and dry, but convoluted and colorful. Just like Trump’s administration.

When it comes to the good things Trump has done, one can talk about his ability to clearly differentiate between the “good guys” and the “bad guys” in the Middle East - something Barack Obama’s lauded administration actually failed to do.

Trump sent Nikki Haley to the UN - who helped change the organization’s somewhat hypocritical view on Israel - and he recognized the Golan Heights as an inseparable part of the country.

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